​The Southside Trail is a game-changer in the true sense of the word. This 4.5-mile segment of the Atlanta Beltline corridor represents the missing link between the Eastside and Westside Trails. It also represents the connection between the eastern and western hemispheres of Atlanta, which were separated long ago by the I-75 / 85 freeway, curiously referred to as the “Downtown Connector.”

In March 2018, the Atlanta Beltline, Inc. purchased the Southside Trail from CSX Transportation for $25.8 million. According to Beltline officials, CSX has six months to remove their tracks from the old rail corridor, which encompasses some 63 acres of land. They also said that they expect to open an interim hiking trail in this section of Beltline corridor in the first quarter of 2019. This is significant in that the new trail will enable (potentially) hundreds of thousands of people to explore these neighborhoods for the first time.

The Southside Trail runs through Subareas 2, 3 and 4 of the Beltline master planning area. The main neighborhoods (from east to west) are Glenwood Park, Grant Park, Ormewood Park, Chosewood Park, Boulevard Heights, South Atlanta, Pittburgh, Capital View Manor and Adair Park. The Southside Trail runs from Glenwood Avenue in Glenwood Park to University Avenue in Adair Park.

In late Sept 2018, ABI announced that it applied for (and is optimistic about receiving) a $16 million federal grant that could jump start construction of the Southside Trail. ABI applied for the grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new $1.5 billion BUILD program (formerly the TIGER grant). The total build-out cost for the Southside Trail is estimated to be $70 million. The design phase for the Southside Trail began in 2017 and is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.​On 10/04/18, the MARTA Board of Directors will be voting on the final list of projects that will be included in the More MARTA project. Recent media reports indicate that the Southside Trail may see light rail transit (LRT) sooner than originally proposed under the More MARTA plan. This will have a material impact on the neighborhoods along the Southside Trail.